The key to success for any microgrid project is the controls platform. Whether intentionally islanding from the utility grid or responding to a signal from a grid operator to provide ancillary services, the microgrid controller can be viewed as the heart of the microgrid. It is vital to the success of microgrid projects whether focused on resilience, renewable energy integration, or economic optimization.
Despite the promising appeal of microgrids and the decline in the cost of key enabling technologies and controls, the incumbent system still offers significant resistance to microgrids, especially those interconnected to a utility grid. This report is therefore focused on ranking vendors active in grid-tied microgrid segments. It is within this commercial environment where the greatest value can be extracted from a microgrid via a controls solution through the provision of ancillary services to incumbent utility grid.
This Navigant Research Leaderboard report examines the strategy and execution of 15 leading microgrid controller vendors. These players are rated on 12 criteria: vision; go-to market strategy; partners; business model innovation; controls philosophy; geographic reach; sales, marketing, and distribution; product performance (islanding); controls functionality; project portfolio; pricing; and staying power. Using Navigant Research’s proprietary Leaderboard methodology, vendors are profiled, rated, and ranked with the goal of providing industry participants with an objective assessment of these companies’ relative strengths and weaknesses in the global microgrid controls market.
Top 10 Vendors:
1. Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories
2. Schneider Electric
3. Opus One Solutions
4. Encorp
5. Siemens
6. S&C Electric
7. PowerSecure
8. Spirae
9. Emerson Automation Solutions
10. CleanSpark
Key Questions Addressed:
- Which company’s microgrid controls offer superior performance on safe, seamless islanding?
- How do leading microgrid controller vendors stack up on business model innovation?
- Which companies rank highest on strategy for microgrid controls?
- Which companies rank highest on execution for microgrid controls?
- How do the large global industrial corporations compare on microgrid controls?
- Which smaller software companies have gained traction in the microgrid controls market?
Who needs this report?
- Microgrid developers and systems integrators
- Microgrid financiers
- Microgrid controller companies
- Internet of Things (IoT) vendors
- Utilities
- Energy storage providers
- Government energy agencies
- Investor community
